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Newcomer punts miniature 'pub phone'

Perfect for pocketing?

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It’s small, it’s shiny and it’s perfect for the pub, apparently. Electronics company Onyx has designed a miniature mobile phone that’s intended to be used in addition to your primary handset.

Onyx's Liscio: a mobile down-time

Dubbed Liscio, the tri-band GSM handset measures just 91 x 35 x 18mm and weighs a mere 60g. Onyx, which was only founded last year by electronics firm Blue Telephony - no we haven't heard of them either - is pitching the handset at anyone looking for a secondary "pub phone", or to those in desperate need of a stylish device that allows them to leave their, say, Nokia N95 or iPhone safely tucked up at home sometimes.

There's no camera, but the Liscio does play MP3s

Reflective metallic surfaces aplenty help mean the Liscio's rather stylish and should ensure both you and the missus can check your hair or make-up whilst down the boozer. Onyx claims the Liscio will give you about three hours of talk time and 11 hours of so-called “play time”, with users able to access menu options through a scroll wheel built into the handset’s side.

The handset boasts a colour OLED display, but you may have to squint slightly because the screen is only 1.1in diameter with a resolution of 96 x 96 pixels. Despite the absence of a camera, the phone has 128MB of internal storage and an external memory card slot for Micro SD cards.

A mini USB port at the top of the phone acts as both the data transfer port - although Bluetooth 1.2 is also on board - and a charging port for the phone. It supports AMR and MP3 multimedia, in addition to including an FM radio. A 3.5mm headphone jack sits next to the phone’s USB port.

The Liscio handset is available online now for a SIM-free price of £130 (€155/$260).